Another Chance and the Same Old Result

My beloved Saint Louis Cardinals started the second half of their season tonight in Pittsburgh.  I have been excited all week because they were only five and a half games back of the first place Milwaukee Brewers.  The Cardinals ended the first half of the season strong and were just two games under .500.

But, the optimism was misplaced.  The Cardinals closer, Seung-Hwan Oh, couldn't get out of the ninth inning and the Birds lost 5-2 on a walk off homer by the Bucs Josh Bell.

The Cards bullpen is a huge problem as is the defense.  Cardinal fans have given the bullpen the following names because they are terrible.  Closer Oh has become "Oh-No".  Set up man Trevor Rosenthal is "Blows 'Em All" and 7th inning specialist Matt Bowman is "Blowman".

I fear it is going to be a long second half of the season.

Just Do It

Its been a busy busy month to say the least.  But, this weekend Major League Baseball will wrap up its 2014 campaign.

My beloved Cardinals lead the National League Central by a game over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Pirates have won like every game in the month of September (OK I exaggerate), while the Cardinals are playing a little better than .500 during the same time frame.  Bottom line is the Birds need to win or the Pirates need to lose a combination of three games this weekend if the Cards are to win the division and avoid that nasty playoff play-in game next week.  The Birds are playing at Arizona (with the worst record in the National League) while the Pirates are in Cincinnati to play a Reds team that seems to have packed in about a month ago.

The Cardinals have gotten it done all year when they needed to.  So this weekend Redbirds "Just  Do It."

National League All-Star Team

Major League Baseball is back at it again asking its fans to select the All-Star team.  This is a ludicrous idea because most baseball fans can't name many more players than those on the team they support.  Which is why you have moronic selections each year.

I'm no expert, but after watching the game for 55 years, I know who can play and who isn't living up to their hype.  So, with that in mind here are my National League picks for the upcoming All-Star game which will be played in Minneapolis at Target Field on July 15th.

C      Jonathan Lucroy          Milwaukee Brewers
1B     Paul Goldschmidt        Arizona Diamondbacks
2B     Anthony Rendon         Washington Nationals
3B     Todd Frazier               Cincinnati Reds
SS     Troy Tulowitzki           Colorado Rockies
OF     Giancarlo Stanton       Miami Marlins
OF     Yasiel Puig                  Los Angeles Dodgers
OF     Andrew McCutchen    Pittsburgh Pirates

Of these players only\Tulowitzki, Puig and Stanton are currently leading at their positions.